Founded in 1947, the American Academy of Family Physicians represents 136,700 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical society devoted solely to primary care.

• NCCL Delegates Concern for Anti-Transgender Legislation

  "The reference committee heard strong support for a resolution to oppose state legislation banning adolescent transgender care and to offer an advocacy toolkit on the subject, which delegates adopted.

  Member testimony noted the sharp increase in anti-transgender legislation across the states and discussed how these bills are a direct interference in evidence-based care, and the denial of gender-affirming care is linked to adverse outcomes,” the committee reported. Members expressed particular concern that some of the bills “seek to penalize and criminalize physicians for medically necessary care.”

  Date: 2021

• Frontline Physicians Oppose Legislation That Interferes in or Penalizes Patient Care

  AAFP joined the American Academy of Pediatrics, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the American Osteopathic Association, and the American Psychiatric Association in opposing legislation that interferes in or penalizes patient care for transgender individuals.

  "Our organizations, which represent nearly 600,000 physicians and medical students, oppose any laws and regulations that discriminate against transgender and gender-diverse individuals or interfere in the confidential relationship between a patient and their physician. That confidentiality is critical to allow patients to trust physicians to properly counsel, diagnose and treat.

  Our organizations are strongly opposed to any legislation or regulation that would interfere with the provision of evidence-based patient care for any patient, affirming our commitment to patient safety. We recognize health as a basic human right for every person, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. For gender-diverse individuals, including children and adolescents, this means access to gender-affirming care that is part of comprehensive primary care.

  Further, we strongly oppose any effort to criminalize or penalize physicians for providing necessary care for their patients. Physicians must be able to practice medicine that is informed by their years of medical education, training, experience, and the available evidence, freely and without threat of punishment. Patients and their physicians, not policymakers, should be the ones to make decisions together about what care is best for them."

  Date: April 2, 2021

• Policy: Discrimination, Patient

  "The AAFP opposes all discrimination in any form, including but not limited to, on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic affiliation, health, age, disability, economic status, body habitus or national origin."

  Date: 2020

• Coverage Equity for Drugs, Testing, Procedure, Preventive Services, and Reproductive Technologies

  "Employers and health plans should not discriminate by the patient's birth gender, sexual orientation, or marital status in the provision of health care benefits including a) prescription drugs and devices, b) elective sterilization procedures, c) diagnostic testing, d) medically indicated surgical procedures, and e) assisted reproductive technologies. These benefits should be covered under the same terms and conditions as other prescription drugs, devices, elective surgeries, diagnostic testing, and medically indicated surgical procedures.

  Coverage should include medically appropriate services for individuals requiring transition or transgender care as determined by best practice standards, the patient, and the attending physician. Further, this coverage should extend to the medically-appropriate, sex-specific recommended preventive services determined appropriate by the patient's primary care physician."

  Date: 2018